Shoplifter is told ‘we pay for your offending’

While on bail with the condition that he was banned from any retail premises a 39-year-old man stole from a Tescos store in Portadown.

Robert Mark McClelland, Clonavon Avenue, Portadown, was sentenced to a total of eight months in prison last Wednesday at Craigavon Magistrates Court.

He admitted stealing alcohol worth £127 on September 7 this year, £134 worth on September 8 and £134 worth on October 3, all from Asda in Portadown.

For each of these offences he was jailed for three months with the terms to run concurrently.

McClelland was given five months in custody for stealing alcohol and a razor, valued at £150, from Tescos, Meadow Lane, Portadown, on August 13 and a concurrent five month term was imposed for going equipped to steal with a foil lined bag.

The three month and five month terms are to run consecutively making a total of eight months in prison.

The court heard that on August 13 at 12.20pm the defendant walked out of the store without paying for three bottles of Jack Daniels and a razor.

District Judge, Mrs Bernie Kelly, said these offences had happened while McClelland was on bail for the first set of offences and a condition of his bail was that he was not to go near any retail premises.

She also highlighted what the defendant had said in a pre-sentence report where he claimed that Tescos took two billion a year and would not be affected by his offending behaviour.

“That’s not the way it works, we pay for your offending,” the judge told McClelland.

A barrister representing McClelland said he was due to be sentenced soon in the Crown Court.

Judge Kelly said the defendant had an atrocious record and committing the second set of offences while on bail was an aggravating feature.